1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photographic processing apparatus for executing a predetermined treatment of a photo sensitive material by conveying it through two processing sections, for example, from an exposing section to a developing section.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The related art will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross sectional view of an exposing section and a part of a developing section of a photographic processing apparatus. In the exposing section 30, a roll of photo-sensitive material 25 is fed by a feed roller and cut into lengths corresponding to each frame by a cutter 1 and then the photo-sensitive material is sent onto the exposing table 2. The exposing table 2 is provided with an endless adsorptive belt 3 which circulates along a triangular path composed of three rollers disposed at each vertex. The photo-sensitive material 25 is sent to a predetermined position by the movement of the belt 3 in a direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 12. The adsorptive belt 3 is provided with a plurality of small apertures and the photo-sensitive material 25 is adsorbed to the adsorptive belt 3 by providing a vacuum to the underside of the belt 3. The photo-sensitive material 25 sent to the predetermined position on the exposing table 2 is then exposed and printed with an image on a film 26 held in a negative-mask 6 using a light from a light source 4 projected through a mirror tunnel 5, the negative-mask 6 and a lens unit 7. After being exposed and printed, the photo-sensitive material 25 is sent to the next stage of the developing section 32 by a conveying device 31.
The conveying device 31 is composed of a plurality of roller pairs and although not shown each end of each roller is engaged with and driven by an endless belt. The conveying device 31 is equipped with a conveying distributor unit 10 and a parallel conveying path unit 20.
FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view taken along the line A--A FIG. 12. The conveying distributor unit 10 comprises a movable path unit 13 which can move traversely along a rail 12 on a base table 11 at right angles to the direction that the photo-sensitive material 25 is being fed. The movable path unit 13 comprises a movable frame 14 which is equipped with a plurality of roller pairs 15. The movable path unit 13 is engaged and slidable with the rail 12 through a guide 12a fixed to the bottom surface of the movable frame 14.
The parallel conveyor path unit 20 comprises two conveyor paths 20A and 20B installed in parallel. Each conveyor path has a number of roller pairs 22 on a base table 21 respectively. Although not shown, each roller pair is rotationally driven by an endless belt which is driven by a motor that moves the photo-sensitive material 25. A driving unit is installed independently on each conveying path.
In the developing section 32, a tank 16 is divided into several compartments by a plurality of partition boards 17. Each compartment is equipped with a rack which horizontally supports a plurality of roller pairs 18.